Page 17 of A Touch of Treachery (Section 47 #3)
“It’s not a death stare. It’s an I’ve-had-a-really-shitty-day stare. So do us both a favor and come clean about Germany. You’ve been hemming and hawing and trying to bring it up for weeks anyway.”
Gabriel sighed. “How did you figure it out?”
“For starters, I wondered why you told Desmond that Elsa Eisen invited you to her castle, but you never told me that.”
He scowled again. “Because you would have heard it was a lie. Damn synesthesia.”
I shot my thumb and forefinger at him. “ Exactly. Why wouldn’t you fill me in like you did Desmond? That was one of the things that made me suspicious.”
Gabriel arched an eyebrow. “ One of the things? What were the others?”
“You didn’t text me that you were coming to the Christmas Eve party, you showed up at the very last minute, and you weren’t on the official guest list.” I ticked off the points on my fingers.
“Plus, as far as I knew, you had never had any dealings with Elsa Eisen, so why would she invite you to such an important shindig? If Elsa had really been interested in hiring your company for protection, she would have done it before the party, not during.”
I crossed my arms over my chest again. “Everything indicated you came to the party of your own accord. Now, are you going to tell me why? Or do I have to start digging into you like you’re the latest criminal I’m tracking?”
Gabriel gave me a rueful grin. “How long would it take you to figure out my route to Germany?”
“Maybe a day or two. Depending on how discreet and careful you were with your travel arrangements, rental cars, and hotels. Everything leaves some sort of paper or electronic trail, especially a spur-of-the-moment holiday trip to a remote German castle.”
He shook his head. “Have I ever mentioned you think way too much, Char?”
“Frequently. Now, quit stalling and answer my questions.”
Gabriel stared down at the tabletop for a moment, then looked up at me again. “First of all, I want you to know that I didn’t mean to or want to lie to you. Things just happened so fast.”
Truth , my inner voice whispered.
“But you’re right. Elsa Eisen didn’t invite me to her Christmas Eve party.” He drew in a breath, then let it out. “Nemesis did.”
Shock jolted through me. “Who the fuck is Nemesis?”
I’d thought Gabriel had come to the castle to watch my back, which would have been thoughtful, if annoying. I hadn’t realized another player was involved.
Gabriel told me he had been in Frankfurt, Germany, wrapping up an assignment, when he’d gotten an anonymous call from a woman calling herself Nemesis who said that Desmond and I were going undercover at Tannenbaum Castle and that we might need Gabriel’s help.
“I thought I could find my mystery woman on my own, but no luck so far,” he finished. “I’ve had my best folks trying to trace her texts and calls, but they’ve come up empty. Nemesis knows what she’s doing.”
“And you’re sure the voice on the other end of the line wasn’t Henrika Hyde?” I asked.
Gabriel shook his head. “I had the same thought after Katarina Tanetsa and her mercenaries tried to rob the guests—that Henrika was playing some sick game with me, you, and Desmond. But I’ve listened to a dozen voice clips of Henrika online.
She’s definitely not Nemesis. Besides, why would Henrika send me to help you and Desmond stop the mercenaries she’d hired to steal the Nutcracker Ruby? It doesn’t make any sense.”
No, it didn’t, especially since Katarina had claimed that Henrika put a bounty on my head. Henrika had wanted me to die in Germany, so she hadn’t sent Gabriel to come to Desmond’s and my rescue.
I tapped my fingers on the tabletop, my mind spinning in a dozen different directions. Gabriel’s tech gurus were top-notch, and if they hadn’t been able to find the mystery woman, then I had my work cut out. But maybe texts and calls weren’t the only clues she had left behind.
My fingers stilled. “Why Nemesis?”
“What do you mean?” Gabriel asked.
“Why choose that as her alias?”
“Who knows? Because she didn’t want to call herself the Sugar Plum Fairy?”
I huffed at his sarcasm. “We both know how important code names are, especially to spies. Nemesis has some special meaning to this woman. If we figure out what that meaning is, then we’ll be one step closer to tracking her down.”
Gabriel shrugged. “She did say she wanted revenge, although she didn’t say against whom.”
“Well, it probably wasn’t me, you, or Desmond, since she sent you to help us.
And I doubt she wanted revenge against Elsa Eisen either, since helping Desmond and me also helped Elsa.
” I frowned, another thought occurring to me.
“How did she even know Desmond and I were going to Tannenbaum Castle? Gia and Evelyn were the only people in Section 47 who knew that.”
Gabriel groaned and massaged his temples. “You’re giving me a headache. Is this what analysts do all day? Look for hidden motives in every single word, thought, deed, and action?”
“Absolutely,” I murmured in an absent voice.
I plucked the pen and the notepad out of my apron pocket and started jotting down ideas about how I could discover Nemesis’s identity. “I want everything you have on her. All the texts, the party invitation, and everything your techs have done to try to find her.”
Gabriel snorted. “You’re enjoying this. Then again, you always did love puzzles, even when we were kids. Remember all those logic games our dads would give us? You would solve yours in about three minutes, and it would take me three hours.”
Gabriel’s father, Leon Chase, had also been a cleaner for Section 47. Leon had been friends with my father, and they had often gotten together on the weekends to do extra training—and dragged a reluctant Gabriel and an even more reluctant me along for the ride.
“True. But when our dads would make us go outside for survivalist training, you would find food and water in less than an hour, and I would tromp through the woods all day before you would take pity on me.”
Gabriel grinned. “I always put extra chocolate bars in my backpack just for you, Char.” His grin faded away. “I just hope you can forgive me for not telling you the truth sooner.”
Part of me was annoyed he hadn’t told me everything back at the castle, but Gabriel hadn’t withheld the full truth with malicious intent.
And if Nemesis hadn’t told him about the Tannenbaum mission, then the outcome might have been very, very different.
Gabriel had helped Desmond kill the mercenaries who were holding a ballroom full of innocent people hostage.
Those folks owed their lives to Gabriel, as did Desmond and I.
“Of course I forgive you.” I paused. “Just don’t make a habit out of lying to me.”
Gabriel drew an X over his heart with his index finger. “Never will I ever.”
Satisfied, I nodded and looked over my scribbled notes, adding a few more ideas and avenues of attack. One way or another, I was going to find Nemesis—and ask exactly why she had dragged my friend into a dangerous Section mission.
G abriel scrolled through his messages while I kept brainstorming. By this point, it was after nine o’clock, and the diner had largely emptied out.
The door opened, the bell chimed, and another familiar presence filled the air, like the electrical charge before a thunderstorm.
Soft footsteps sounded, and a hand skimmed along the right sleeve of my waitress uniform.
Desmond stopped beside the booth. He was still wearing the janitor’s uniform from this morning’s mission, under a thick blue coat.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said.
A hundred questions burned on my tongue, but I swallowed them. “No worries.”
I scooted over, and Desmond slid into the booth beside me. I held my breath, wondering if he might notice the three vials of Redburn hidden in the red French fries sign, but, just like Gabriel, Desmond didn’t even glance at the window. Seemed my hiding place was a good one.
Desmond nodded at Gabriel. “Gaby.”
“Hello, Slick,” Gabriel replied.
“Aw, your budding bromance is so cute,” I drawled. “The two of you are already at the nicknames stage.”
The two men gave me sour glares, but I just grinned in return.
When they had first met at the diner a few months ago, Desmond and Gabriel had immediately disliked each other.
That tended to happen when you put two alpha cleaners together.
But the two of them had worked together and saved each other’s life during the Tannenbaum mission, and each cleaner now had a grudging, mutual respect for the other, although neither one of them would ever admit it.
Pablo came over and set a glass filled with bright yellow-orange liquid in front of Desmond, then poured more coffee for Gabriel and handed me a plate with another piece of cake.
“Remind me to give you a raise,” I murmured.
Pablo winked at me. “Sure thing, boss lady.”
Desmond and Gabriel knew I owned the diner now, so they didn’t bat an eye at the chef’s words.
Pablo gave an elegant flourish with his hand. “And for your gentleman friend, a mango-lime smoothie with a dash of turmeric and a hint of cumin.”
Desmond stuck a straw into the liquid and took a sip. “Mmm! You’ll have to give me the recipe. It’s delicious.”
Pablo grinned. A few months ago, he’d learned Desmond loved smoothies, and he had been trying new recipes out on the cleaner ever since. He’d even added some of the recipes to the menu, including a strawberry-vanilla concoction that tasted like a decadent cheesecake.
One of the chefs signaled Pablo, and he left me with Desmond and Gabriel.
I downed a few more bites of cake, but even the delectable treat couldn’t drown out my questions, so I pushed my plate away. “How was your meeting with your father?”
A disgusted look filled Desmond’s face. “Lots of blustering by the General, along with several threats, demands, and angry accusations.”
Desmond shrugged, as though his strained relationship with his father didn’t bother him, but I could see how much it did.
“Par for the course for the two of us. We’ve never really gotten along, and today went exactly as I expected.
” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, rumpling the dark blond locks.
“After our meeting, I went back to the bullpen. Joan, Diego, and I worked the rest of the afternoon, trying to track down Bryce, along with Henrika.”
I started to ask if they had any leads, but I held my tongue. I didn’t want to put Desmond in an even more awkward position than he already was in. Besides, my selfish pride wanted me to find Henrika on my own and prove to General Percy that I was as good an analyst as I claimed.
Desmond gestured at my notepad. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to track down a new nemesis.”
“A new nemesis? Did I miss something?”
“Don’t you always, Slick?” Gabriel drawled.
Desmond glowered at the other man, but Gabriel gave him a sunny smile in return.
“I don’t miss things any more than you do, Gaby,” Desmond drawled right back. “But we all know Charlotte is by far the smartest person at this table.”
“At last, something we can agree on,” Gabriel replied.
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, fellas. Let’s focus on the task at hand.”
“Which is?” Desmond asked.
I gestured at my notepad. “Tracking down Nemesis.”
I gave Gabriel a pointed look. He grumbled, but he told Desmond about being contacted by Nemesis.
Desmond leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, his right index finger tapping out a quick rhythm on his left elbow. “And you have no idea who this person was? You just assumed she was telling the truth and came to Tannenbaum Castle on a whim?”
“I wanted to make sure Charlotte was okay. Besides, a holiday party at a swanky castle sounded like fun.” Gabriel popped up the collar of his jacket. “Plus, we all know how good I look in a tuxedo.”
I snorted. “Only you would think battling a castle full of mercenaries was the epitome of a good time.”
Gabriel grinned again. “I’m special that way.”
I snorted again, then looked at Desmond. “Does the name Nemesis mean anything to you?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t remember any missions with that name. No targets or informants either.”
My heart sank with disappointment. I’d known it wouldn’t be that easy, but I’d still hoped Desmond might have some sort of clue and an inkling of whether Nemesis was a true friend or another enemy waiting in the wings.
Gabriel polished off his coffee, then got to his feet, pulled out his wallet, and laid a hundred-dollar bill on the table.
“You don’t have to do that—”
He waved off my protest. “I’m happy to pay for my cake and eat it too. Give it to Pablo as a tip. I’ll keep digging into Nemesis and Bryce Finkley.”
Gabriel winked at me, tipped his head to Desmond, and left the diner. A black SUV cruised into the parking lot, avoiding the many potholes. Gabriel opened a door and slid into the back of the vehicle, which whisked him away.
“He really is cool as a cucumber, isn’t he?” Desmond murmured.
“Is that a note of admiration I hear?”
He gave me the same grumpy look Gabriel had earlier. “As much as it pains me to admit it, the man knows how to make an exit. And an entrance too. You should have seen him strut into the ballroom during the holiday party. He walked into Tannenbaum Castle like he owned it.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that sounds exactly like Gabriel.”
Desmond chuckled too, but his amusement quickly vanished. “I’m sorry I didn’t text you this afternoon. There was a lot going on. Can I walk you home?”
My stomach clenched at his serious tone. “Sure. Just let me make sure Pablo has everything he needs.”
Desmond slid out of the booth so that I could get up, then sat back down. He took another sip of his mango-lime smoothie, then pushed it away. Normally, Desmond gulped down Pablo’s smoothies, but his lack of appetite spoke volumes about how his day had been—just as tough and shitty as mine.
I left Desmond sitting in the booth and headed toward the kitchen. No one was threatening me, and my synesthesia was still and silent, but for some reason, I felt like this was just the beginning of our troubles.